Two more plead in US expert network probe

Reuters, NEW YORK

A former hedge fund manager and a one-time Nvidia Corp analyst on Friday admitted conspiring with a technology industry consultant who is set to stand trial in New York next week, as part of an ongoing US crackdown on insider trading.

Samir Barai, founder of Barai Capital Management, and Sonny Nguyen, a former financial analyst at chipmaker Nvidia, separately pleaded guilty to criminal charges and could be used as witnesses at the trial of Winifred Jiau (焦婉盈), once a consultant with the Primary Global Research expert networking firm.

They are among more than a dozen people who prosecutors have charged in the investigation of so-called expert networking firms, which match investment managers with public companies. Prosecutors say they traded illegally on corporate secrets such as earnings before public announcements.

“On numerous occasions, I paid for and used the services of an expert networking firm who employed persons working at technology companies,” Barai told US Magistrate Judge Kevin Nathaniel Fox in pleading guilty to charges including conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud and obstruction of justice.

He identified Taiwan-born Jiau, who has pleaded not guilty and is jailed pending trial on June 1. Her lawyer, Joanna Hendon, declined to comment on Friday’s guilty pleas.

Documents filed by prosecutors and testimony of a former Barai employee showed that Samir Barai recorded phone calls with Jiau. In the calls, she told him secrets obtained from insiders at chipmakers Marvell Technology Group Ltd and Nvidia Corp.

Barai told the judge he obtained confidential information from Jiau and traded on it even though at the time he knew it was “wrong and illegal.”

He also said he conspired with two other men, Noah Freeman and Donald Longueuil, who have also pleaded guilty to charges in the case.

The pair once worked for billionaire trader Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisers. The firm has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

The former Nvidia analyst, Sonny Nguyen, 39, told US District Judge Jed Rakoff at a separate proceeding that in 2007 and 2008 he tipped off Jiau about chipmaker Nvidia’s quarterly financial results before they were announced to the public.